The first of more than 100 small and medium-sized UK newsrooms to receive emergency funding from Google have been revealed.

The technology firm has begun to make awards from its relief fund, aimed at helping news titles through the coronavirus crisis.

Grants of between $5,000 and $30,000 have been made to newsrooms across the world, with hyperlocal publishers Altrincham Today and Rochdale Online being confirmed as the first UK titles to benefit.

Google says more than 100 publishers across the country have won grants, but has yet to reveal the other beneficiaries.

Altrincham Today, which employs two journalists, will be using funds to invest in the design and production of its magazine, while Rochdale Online will invest in staff and keeping their journalists working during the crisis.

Jersey radio station Channel 103, which employs three journalists, has also won funding from the initiative which will contribute to the immediate future of news teams, enabling them to preserve staff numbers.

The initiative is aimed at small and medium-sized news organizations producing original news for local communities during the crisis, and eligible applicants must have a digital presence and have been in operation for at least 12 months.

It is targeted at newsrooms employing between two and 100 full-time employee journalists, although local publishers employing more than 100 FTE journalists have still been allowed to apply – with applications covering a number of publications under one organisation being capped at $85,000.

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